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ULl£TiNofflieSTATE 

INlVERSITYoflOWA 


NEW  SERIES  No.  90 


FEBRUARY  6,  1915 


University  Extension  Bulletin  No.  9 


Work,  Wages,  and  Schooling 
of  Eight  Hundred  Iowa  Boys 

in  Relation  to  the  Problems  of  Vocational  Guidance 

BY 

ERVIN  E,  LEWIS 
i»rriLisiiKi>  \\\  nno  IMVIORSTTY,  IOWA  CITY,  IOWA 


ISSUED  TWENTY-ONE   TIMES  DURING   THE  ACADEMIC  YEAR;    MONTHLY  FROM 

OCTOBER  TO   JANUARY,   WEEKLY  FROM   FEBRUARY   TO  JUNE.  ENTERED 

AT    THE   POSTOFFICE    IN    IOWA   CITY    AS    SECOND   CLASS    MATTER 


THE  STATE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  IOWA 

IOWA  CITY 


University  Extension  Bulletin  No.  9 

O.  E.  HUNGARIAN,  M.  A.,  Editor 


Work,  Wages,  and  Schooling  of 
Eight  Hundred  Iowa  Boys 

In  Relation  to  the  Problems  of  Vocational  Guidance 

BY 
ERVIN  E.  LEWIS 

Associate  Professor  of  Education 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY 
IOWA  CITY,  IOWA 


:•" 


FOREWORD 

The  investigation  herein  reported  was  made  during  July  and  August, 
1914,  in  Des  Moines  and  Sioux  City,  by  the  Extension  Division  in  co- 
operation with  the  College  of  Education  of  the  University.  Mr.  E.  E. 
Lewis,  Associate  Professor  of  Education,  was  asked  by  the  Director  of  the 
Extension  Division  and  the  Dean  of  the  College  of  Education  to  outline 
the  study  and  to  take  charge  of  the  investigation.  Under  his  direction  the 
materials  for  the  study  were  collected  and  tabulated,  and  the  report  writ- 
ten. Mr.  Robert  Reinow  was  employed  by  the  Extension  Division  to  do  the 
field  work.  He  was  assisted  by  Mr.  C,  F.  Kurtz  and  Mr.  E.  J.  Ashbaugh. 
Mr.  Russell  Stevenson  of  the  Extension  Division  and  Mr.  Newcomb,  a  gradu- 
ate student" in  education,  assisted  in  tabulating  portions  of  the  data. 
*  The  $nYefeti*gation  was  not  made  with  any  preconceived  ideas  in  mind 
;withr  respect  ^to  ^hat  ought  to  be  the  work,  wages,  and  schooling  of  boys 
of  high  school  age  and  no  program  of  reform  is  here  advocated.  The  study 
represents  a  sincere  effort  on  the  part  of  the  investigators  to  ascertain  the 
facts  concerning  the  employment  of  boys  of  high  school  age  in  two  of  the 
larger  cities  of  this  state. 

The  widespread  interest  in  the  subjects  of  vocational  education  and  voca- 
tional guidance  in  connection  with  public  schools  is  in  itself  sufficient 
justification  for  such  a  study.  If  the  public  schools  are  to  introduce  suc- 
cessfully vocational  education  and  vocational  guidance  they  must  first  know 
more  about  the  vocations  that  boys  enter  upon  leaving  school,  and  also 
something  of  the  conditions  of  work  in  these  vocations. 

All  leaders  in  this  field  are  agreed  that  very  careful  vocational  surveys 
are  first  necessary.  The  present  investigation  is  an  effort  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  the  results  as  presented  in  this  bulletin  should  prove  of  great 
value  and  interest  to  social  workers,  teachers,  superintendents,  and  par- 
ents in  Iowa. 


Work,  Wages,  and  Schooling  of 
Eight  Hundred  Iowa  Boys 

In  Relation  to  Problems  of  Vocational  Guidance 


SCOPE  OF  THE  INVESTIGATION 

The  original  intention  in  this  investigation  was  to  interview  one 
thousand  boys  of  Iowa,  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age, 
who  had  not  completed  a  course  in  a  high  school,  and  to  secure 
from  each  an  accurate  statement  of  his  vocational  progress  since 
leaving  school.  The  investigators  were  instructed  to  go  directly 
to  the  boys,  to  explain  briefly  to  them  the  purpose  of  the  in- 
vestigation and  to  ask  for  their  co-operation.  A  printed  card  con- 
taining the  following  questions  was  formulated  and  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  investigators.  All  of  the  questions  were  to  be 
answered  by  each  boy. 

What  is  the    boy's  name? 

What  is  his  present  age  (nearest  birthday),  and  address? 

What  grade  does  he  say  he  was  in  at  the  time  he  left  school f 

What  was  his  age  at  that  time? 

What  is  the  name  and  location  of  the  school  he  last  att ended  f 

What  was  his  reason  (or  reasons)  for  leaving  school  f 

How  long  after  leaving  school  was  he  idle  before  he  secured 

work  f 

How  many  different  jobs  has  he  been  in  since  leaving  school? 
For  each  job  he  has  been  in,  answer  the  following  questions : 
Kind  of  job; 
Kind  of  business; 
How  he  found  the  job; 

Hoiv  long  he  was  in  it; 
His  average  weekly  wages; 

(a)  When  he  started  the  job,  and 

(b)  When  he  left  it; 

The  length  of  time  idle  between  jobs; 
The  reason  for  changing  jobs; 

What  trade  if  any  does  the  boy  noiv  desire  to  prepare  for? 
About  nine  hundred  boys  in  Des  Moines  and  one  hundred  boys 
in  Sioux  City  were  interviewed  by  the  investigators.     Nearly 


twenty  per  cent  of  them  were  reached  on  holidays  and  during  the 
evenings  in  pool  halls  and  on  the  street.  Returns  from  about 
eighty  per  cent  were  secured  during  working  hours  through  the 
co-operation  of  employers,  more  than  two  hundred  of  whom 
were  interviewed.  Only  two  employers  regarded  the  investiga- 
tors with  suspicion  and  refused  to  allow  the  boys  in  their  estab- 
lishments to  be  interviewed.  Reliable  data  were  received  from 
more  than  eight  hundred  boys.  The  remaining  cases  are  exclud- 
ed from  this  report,  because  the  replies  were  not  complete. 

The  investigators  are  aware  that  one  cannot  depend  too  much 
upon  the  memory  of  boys  of  these  ages.  The  errors  are  larger 
and  more  numerous  than  desired.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
selection  is  one  of  pure  chance  and  the  errors  to  some  extent 
counterbalance  each  other.  Although  the  data  are  not  so  reliable 
as  desired  they  are  at  all  events  approximate,  and  certainly 
are  better  than  any  other  data  at  present  available  upon  the 
same  subject. 

AGE  OF  THE  BOYS  AT  THE  TIME  OF  THE 

INVESTIGATION 

Of  the  boys  whose  ages  were  known  1  was  12  years  old  at  the 
time  of  the  investigation,  2  were  13  years  old,  17  were  14  years 
old,  58  were  15  years  old,  101  were  16  years  old,  139  were  17 
years  old,  126  were  18  years  old,  131  were  19  years  old,  93 
were  20  years  old,  89  were  21  years  old,  61  were  22  years  old, 
and  1  was  24  years  old.  These  figures  show  that  507  boys,  or 
60  per  cent  of  those  investigated,  were  from  16  to  19  years  of 
age.  No  effort  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  investigators  to 
select  boys  below  16,  or  boys  above  20.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
were  definitely  instructed  to  secure  as  many  cases  as  possible  of 
boys  from  16  to  19  years  of  age.  All  of  the  boys  lived  when  inter- 
viewed either  in  Sioux  City  or  Des  Moines.  However,  they  had 
not  always  lived  in  these  places,  as  is  shown  by  a  study  of  the  lo- 
cation of  the  schools  which  they  last  attended. 

LOCATION  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  WHICH  THE  BOYS 
LAST  ATTENDED 

More  than  forty  per  cent  of  the  boys  came  from  schools  lo- 
cated outside  of  the  city  in  which  they  were  living  when  inter- 
viewed. 


Four  hundred  and  fifty-five  (52  per  cent)  came  from  62  differ- 
ent schools  located  in  Des  Homes;  150  (17  per  cent)  came  from 
schools  located  in  107  cities  and  towns  in  Iowa  outside  of  Des 
Moines  and  Sioux  City;  117  (13  per  cent)  came  from  27  different 
States  other  than  Iowa;  41  (nearly  5  per  cent)  came  from  8 
different  foreign  countries.  The  remaining  boys  came  from 
schools  located  in  or  near  Sioux  City. 

These  facts  are  rather  significant  to  those  interested  in  train- 
ing boys  for  the  various  vocations.  If  these  figures  are  accu- 
rate, 40  per  cent  of  the  boys  at  work  in  the  various  pursuits  re- 
ceive their  training  in  schools  located  outside  of  the  cities  in 
which  they  are  working.  Boys  trained  in  the  various  vocations 
in  the  public  schools  of  a  city  would  come  in  competition  with 
boys  coming  into  the  city  from  other  cities  and  states  of  the 
country.  In  other  words,  the  city  would  not  be  able  to  train  all 
of  the  boys  for  any  kind  of  pursuit  without  a  compulsory  sys- 
tem of  continuation  school:  attendance,  which  would  operate 
across  not  only  the  boys  leaving  the  schools  of  that  city  but  also 
across  the  boys  leaving  schools  located  in  other  cities  and  com- 
ing to  that  city. 

AGE  AND  GRADE  AT  WHICH  THE  BOYS  LEFT  SCHOOL 

Each  boy  was  questioned  as  to  the  grade  he  was  in  at  the  time 
he  left  school.  While  the  answers  received  in  this  way  are  not 
so  reliable  as  may  be  desired,  they  are  sufficient  to  indicate  the 
general  tendency  of  boys  of  this  class.  It  would  be  much  better 
to  get  their  records  from  the  schools  which  they  left,  but  this 
was  impossible,  inasmuch  as  many  of  them  left  schools  located 
outside  of  Des  Moines  and  Sioux  City. 

From  our  data  it  may  be  seen  that  relatively  few  of  the  boys 
leave  school  before  they  are  fourteen  years  old  and  before  they 
have  finished  the  fifth  grade.  Table  No.  I  gives  the  data  for 
the  entire  group.  Three  boys  left  school  while  in  the  first  grade ; 
one  of  these  boys  was  six  years  old,  one  fifteen,  and  one  sixteen. 
Only  sixty-four  boys  left  school  before  completing  the  fifth  grade. 
Thirty-eight  per  cent  left  school  before  finishing  the  seventh 
grade  and  sixty-one  per  cent  before  finishing  the  eighth  grade. 
The  present  child-labor  law  in  Iowa  requires  that  children  must 
be  fourteen  years  of  age  before  they  may  legally  quit  school. 
According  to  this  table  103  of  the  826  boys  studied  were 


TABLE  NO.  I.  THE  AGE  AT  WHICH  THE  BOYS  LEFT  SCHOOL 


Leaving 
Age 

Grade  Left 

High  School   Totals 

1st  2<1  3d  4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th  1st 

2d  3d  4th 

6 

1 

1 

7 

1 

1 

8 

9 

1 

1 

10 

1   1 

3 

5 

11 

1   1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

6 

12 

1 

2 

9 

3 

2 

17 

13 

5 

6 

20 

18 

21    1 

71 

14 

8 

14 

37 

45 

76   15 

3 

198 

15 

1           3 

7 

33 

40 

68   35 

20    4 

211 

16 

1           1 

2 

15 

17 

59   26 

23   11 

155 

17 

1 

6 

9 

36   17 

11   11    9 

100 

18 

1 

3 

11    5 

8   10   10 

48 

19 

10 

20 

1 

1 

21 

22 

1 

1 

Totals 

3       2   22 

37 

121 

136 

276  100 

69   38   22 

826 

under  fourteen.  However,  the  reader  should  remember  that  the 
majority  of  the  boys  had,  at  the  time  of  the  investigation,  been 
out  of  school  more  than  three  years,  and  the  child-labor  law  was 
not  so  well  enforced  three  years  ago  as  at  the  present  time. 
Furthermore,  upon  checking  the  records  of  these  boys  we  find 
that  nearly  ninety  per  cent  of  the  violations  of  the  age-require- 
ment are  made  by  boys  coming  to  the  two  cities  studied  from  other 
cities  in  the  state  and  from  other  states  in  the  union.  These 
boys  leave  schools  located  in  small  towns  and  migrate  to  large 
cities  where  they  carry  on  a  more  or  less  vicarious  existence, 
avoiding  further  school  attendance. 

It  is  apparent  from  these  figures  that  workers  in  juvenile  occu- 
pations come  largely  from  the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grades 
of  the  public  schools.  It  is  also  evident  that  most  of  them  leave 
school  at  about  the  time  when  they  are  14,  15,  or  16  years  of  age. 

..THE  VARIOUS  REASONS  THE  BOYS  STATE  FOR 

LEAVING  SCHOOL 

To  determine  exactly  the  reason  or  reasons  why  a  boy  leaves 
school  is  very  difficult.  Some  argue  that  boys  leave  school  because 
they  have  to  work  and  earn,  while  others  argue  that  they  are  dis- 


satisfied  with  the  kind  of  schooling  that  is  offered  them.  In 
interviewing  the  boys  an  attempt  was  made  to  find  out  the  reas- 
ons that  they  give  for  leaving  school. 

Case  No.  457  said,  "I  came  here  from  England  at  the  age  of 
eleven.  I  started  in  school  in  Des  Moines  where  they  put  me  in 
the  fourth  grade.  I  found  the  work  in  the  fourth  grade  too  easy 
and  asked  to  be  promoted,  but  they  refused  to  promote  me,  and 
so  I  left  school  and  went  to  work. " 

Case  No.  165  gives  quite  another  reason.  He  says:  "I  com- 
pleted the  eighth  grade  in  the  country  school  where  my  folks 
lived.  There  was  "no  high  school  within  twelve  miles.  If  there 
had  been,  I  am  sure  I  would  have  gone  to  school.  I  went  to  work 
for  my  father  in  a  freight  depot  and  have  been  working  ever 
since. ' ' 

Case  No.  570  related  as  his  experience  the  following :  ' '  I  did 
not  like  school  as  I  wanted  to  do  tool  work  or  follow  some  com- 
mercial line.  And  as  soon  as  I  became  fourteen  years  of  age  I 
quit  and  took  a  three  months'  course  in  a  business  college.  I 
was  in  the  sixth  grade  when  I  left  school,  but  that  did  not  seem 
to  make  any  difference  to  the  business  college. ' ' 

Case  No.  782  suffered  from  stuttering  and  said:  "I  felt  neg- 
lected and  very  frequently  ashamed,  as  the  children  laughed  at 
me.  However,  I  could  have  continued  in  school  and  probably 
would  have,  if  an  attractive  position  as  a  clerk  had  not  been 
offered  me  at  the  time. ' ' 

The  above  reasons  for  leaving  school  are  somewhat  exceptional, 
but  they  show  something  of  the  variety  of  motives  actuating  boys 
at  the  time  of  leaving  school.    A  tabulation  of  all  the  reasons 
includes  the  following : 
I.    Necessity 

1  'Had  to  work "  128 

"Sickness  or  death  of  parents"  40 

' '  Earnings  necessary  to  family  support ' '  43 

1 '  Self-support  necessary ' '  33 

' '  Help  needed  at  home ' '  16 

' { To  earn  money  for  education  of  self  or  relative ' '  1 
' '  Father  insisted  that  he  quit "  1       .  \p v 

//.     Child  dissatisfied  with  school 

"Tired  of  school"  81 

1  '  Disliked  school  life ' '  104 


''Disliked  teacher"  26 

' '  Disliked  study  or  some  particular  subject ' '         15 
* '  School  work  too  hard ;  could  not  learn ' '  20 

' '  Not  promoted ;  failed ' '  17 

"Expelled  or  had  trouble"  20 

"Too  big  for  class"  2 

' '  Had  enough  school ' '  8 

"Irregular  attendance"  3 

777.    Preference  for  work 

' '  Preferred  work  to  school ' '  116 

"Wanted  spending  money"  29 

"Wanted  to  earn  money"  9 

IV.    Other  causes 

'Wanted  to  learn  trade  or  business"  23 

"Moved  away  or  came  to  America"  26 

"Wanted  to  travel"  6 

"Had  completed  school  course;  no  other  school 

near"  5 

"Ran  away  from  home"  4 

"111  health"  24 

"Wanted  to  go  to  business  college"  3 

' '  Trouble  in  the  family ' '  9 

' '  Father  thought  I  was  too  old  "  2 

"Liked  tool  work"  2 

'  *  No  particular  reason ;  just  left ' '  1 

The  thirty-odd  reasons  given  in  the  preceding  list  are  re- 
ducible to  three : 

1.  Either  the  earnings  of  the  boys  are  necessary,  or  their  help 
is  desired  to  support  the  family.    This  probably  accounts  for  one 
third  of  the  withdrawals. 

2.  The  second  large  factor  is  the  boys'  dissatisfaction  with 
school.     When  they  reach  the  age  of  fourteen  many  of  them 
seem  to  be  in  an  indifferent  frame  of  mind  toward  further  school- 
ing. ^The  routine  of  the  schoolroom  is  too  coercive  to  their  grow- 
ing sense  of  independence^    They  think  they  ought  to  be  allowed 
to  do  about  as  they  desire,  and  too  frequently  their  parents  agree 
with  them.    No  general  theory  fits  every  case,  and  probably  no 
child  leaves  school  for  any  one  reason;  his  reason  for  leaving 
is  a  complex  of  causes,  no  one  of  which  is  in  itself  sufficient  to 
explain  his  withdrawal.     If  we  could  go  behind  these  figures 


we  would  probably  find  that  the  chief  reason  for  dropping  out  of 
school  can  be  traced  directly  to  a  lack  of  parental  control  and 
interest.  Many  parents  seem  to  be  in  an  indifferent  frame  of 
mind  about  their  children's  schooling  after  the  children  have 
reached  the  legal  age.  Frequently  parents  of  foreign  children 
sacrifice  the  future  education  of  the  children  to  the  immediate 
wants  of  the  family.  A  feeling  is  common  among  such  parents 
that  the  child  should  be  put  to  work  at  the  earliest  possible  mo- 
ment and  his  earnings  be  turned  into  the  family  income.  They 
are  disposed  to  cut  short  the  child's  school  days  for  entirely 
insufficient  causes. 

3.  The  third  general  cause  for  boys'  leaving  school  is  not 
so  much  necessity  or  dissatisfaction  as  it  is  their  preference  for 
work.  They  want  spending  money,  or,  more  serious  still,  they 
want  to  do  something  "worth  while;"  something  big  physically 
or  materially  that  appeals  to  their  growing  sense  of  power.  Fur- 
thermore they  do  not  think  that  schooling  is  of  financial  value 
to  them.  They  look  upon  it  as  a  lazy  boy 's  occupation.  Case  No. 
537  said:  "Schooling  does  not  help  a  fellow  make  money.  I 
have  to  make  my  own  living  and  I  can  not  afford  to  go  to  school. " 
In  case  No.  461,  the  father  told  the  boy :  * '  There  is  no  money  in 
going  to  school.  You  had  better  get  to  work."  About  20  per 
cent  of  the  boys  left  for  some  one  of  these  reasons. 

In  a  few  cases  the  family  moves  or  the  boy  is  sick  for  a  few 
days,  or  he  desires  to  travel.  Occasionally  there  is  trouble  in 
the  family,  as  in  the  case  of  one  boy  whose  step-father  continu- 
ally punished  him  for  insufficient  reasons.  A  few  of  the  boys  do 
not  like  the  social  life  of  the  high  school,  especially  children  from 
the  poor  and  foreign  classes.  One  boy  said,  "The  high  school 
is  for  the  rich  people  and  not  for  poor  boys."  Apparently  these 
social  factors  do  not  account  for  many  of  the  withdrawals. 

HOW  LONG  ARE  THE  BOYS  IDLE  IMMEDIATELY 
AFTER  LEAVING  SCHOOL? 

A  few  of  the  boys  after  leaving  school  remain  idle  for  some  time 
before  going  to  work.  In  order  to  find  out  just  how  much  time 
is  wasted  in  this  way,  the  investigators  were  instructed  to  ask 
each  boy  to  state  the  length  of  time  he  was  idle  between  leaving 
school  and  securing  his  first  job.  Of  the  boys  who  gave  satisfac- 
tory answers  to  the  questions  634  said  they  went  to  work  im- 


mediately;  115  were  idle  less  than  1  month;  25  from  1  to  2 
months ;  11  from  2  to  3  months ;  10  from  3  to  4  months ;  4  from 
4  to  5  months ;  8  from  5  to  6  months ;  14  from  6  months  to  1  year ; 
6  between  1  and  1^  years;  and  2  for  2  years  and  over. 

From  these  figures  it  will  be  seen  that  about  75  per  cent  of  the 
boys  went  to  work  immediately.  Of  the  remaining  25  per  cent 
over  half  of  them  were  idle  less  than  one  month.  One  reason  why 
children  are  idle  so  little  between  leaving  school  and  taking 
their  first  job  is  probably  that  they  have  the  job  before  they 
leave  school,  and  that  induces  them  to  quit.  If  the  boy  is  four- 
teen years  of  age,  has  little  spending  money,  and  no  one  at  home 
to  insist  upon  his  going  to  school,  it  is  pretty  hard  for  him  to 
resist  a  lucrative  blind-alley  job. 

HOW  THE  BOYS  FIND  THEIR  JOBS 
Another  of  the  questions  asked  each  boy  was,  "How  did  you 
find  your  job?"  An  answer  was  secured  for  each  job  they  had 
had  since  leaving  school.  The  purpose  of  the  question  was  to 
discover  how  much  assistance  they  received  in  finding  positions, 
and  from  what  sources.  The  usual  method  of  "selling"  one's 
labor  is  to  hawk  it  from  door  to  door.  A  common  method  of  secur- 
ing employees  is  to  put  out  a  sign  that  hawkers  may  apply  for 
work.  Usually  in  this  country  the  burden  of  finding  employ- 
ment falls  upon  the  individual.  The  cities  and  states  of  America 
do  not  have  well-organized  systems  of  employment  bureaus  for 
the  purpose  of  adjusting  either  juvenile  or  adult  laborer  to  em- 
ployer. The  boys  as  they  leave  school  to  go  to  work  are  for  the 
most  part  thrown  upon  their  own  resources,  as  is  shown  by  the 
results  of  this  investigation.  More  than  85  per  cent  of  the  jobs 
were  found  by  the  boys  hawking  for  them.  The  remaining  jobs 
were  found  in  the  following  way : 

92  by  answering  an  advertisement ; 

57  through  assistance  of  parents; 

55  through  assistance  of  friends; 

1  through  teacher  in  public  school; 

1  by  being  asked  by  an  employer. 

Apparently  the  teacher  does  not  attempt  to  assist  these  boys  in 
securing  work.  Nor  are  their  friends,  relatives  and  parents  of 
very  great  assistance.  The  majority  of  the  boys  find  work  for 
themselves.  It  seemed  not  to  be  considered  the  business  of  any 


social  agency  other  than  the  public  school  accurately  to  inform 
such  boys  concerning  the  occupations  open  to  them.  No  litera- 
ture is  handed  them  concerning  desirable  vocations,  and  ap- 
parently no  advice  is  offered  them  regarding  unskilled,  semi- 
skilled, or  highly  skilled  employments.  They  are  not  told  about 
the  "blind-alley"  jobs.  No  one  looks  after  them  systematically, 
following  them  from  the  door  of  the  schoolroom  into  the  jobs 
which  necessity  or  choice  causes  them  to  accept.  They  find 
their  own  jobs  and  take  the  jobs  that  they  can  find  quickly. 
These  boys  studied  are  therefore  fair  examples  of  what  happens 
in  the  absence  of  vocational  guidance.  What  might  have  hap- 
pened if  careful  vocational  guidance  and  supervision  had  been 
provided  can  only  be  inferred.  It  is  safe  to  guess  that  the 
percentage  of  those  entering  and  remaining  in  unskilled  and 
low-grade  skilled  occupations  would  have  been  greatly  decreased,, 
and  also  that  the  "fetching  and  carrying"  occupations — in 
which  the  chief  duty  is  to  wait  upon,  the  casual  needs  of  others — 
would  have  been  avoided  to  a  much  greater  degree.  Some  one 
might  study  an  equal  number  of  children  leaving  schools  of  a 
city  where  vocational  guidance  is  provided  and  contrast  the 
two  groups.  Such  a  contrast  would  measure,  to  some  degree  at 
least,  the  kind  and  value  of  the  guidance  offered.  It  would  then 
be  possible  to  know  how  much  a  city  could  afford  to  spend  in 
instituting  such  guidance.  At  present  we  have  a  feeling  that 
guidance  is  valuable,  but  are  unable  to  say  to  what  degree. 

NUMBER  OF  BOYS  WHO  HAVE  COMPLETED  ONE  OR 
MORE  JOBS  SINCE  LEAVING  SCHOOL 

A  careful  study  was  made  of  the  number  of  boys  who  had 
concluded  one  or  more  jobs  since  leaving  school.  A  job  was 
considered  "concluded"  if  the  boy  had  entered  and  left  it.  A 
typical  working  record  of  one  or  two  of  the  boys  may  be  of 
interest  at  this  point. 

Case  No.  51  was  last  in  the  eighth  grade,  and  was  15  years  old 
at  the  time  he  left  school.  He  started  to  work  in  a  brick  yard 
at  $6  a  week,  and  at  the  end  of  one  year  was  getting  $9  a  week. 
He  left  the  job  because  he  thought  it  was  "too  hard."  Within 
one  week  he  found  work  in  a  hosiery  mill  where  he  stayed  for 
2  years,  starting  at  $4  a  week  and  receiving  at  the  end  of  2 
years  $12  a  week.  He  gave  as  his  reason  for  leaving  the  job, 


"tired  of  it."  He  then  secured  work  on  the  fair  grounds  for 
4  months  at  $10  a  week,  but  the  job  "came  to  an  end"  and  he 
went  to  work  as  a  helper  in  a  tin-shop  where  he  remained  for  5 
months,  getting  $7  a  week.  He  left  it  "to  learn  a  trade,"  and 
started  in  assisting  a  brick  mason  at  $6  a  week.  At  the  end  of 
the  year  he  was  getting  $14  a  week,  but  was  unhappy  and  left 
it  "for  no  very  good  reason;  just  because  he  wanted  a  change," 
and  went  back  to  work  on  the  fair  grounds  for  $7  a  week  and 
board.  At  the  time  of  the  investigation  he  was  a  tender  to  a 
brick-mason  at  $12  a  week,  and  said  he  desired  to  become  a  brick- 
mason.  He  is  now  20  years  old,  and  has  had  in  all  7  different  jobs 
in  five  years. 

A  study  of  all  the  cases  gives  the  following  results : 

228  boys  had  concluded  1  job  since  leaving  school 
214  boys  had  concluded  2  jobs  since  leaving  school 
169  boys  had  concluded  3  jobs  since  leaving  school 
94  boys  had  concluded  4  jobs  since  leaving  school 
58  boys  had  concluded  5  jobs  since  leaving  school 
31  boys  had  concluded  6  jobs  since  leaving  school 
19  boys  had  concluded  7  jobs  since  leaving  school 
11  boys  had  concluded  8  jobs  since  leaving  school 
13  boys  had  concluded  9  jobs  since  leaving  school 
Two  boys  had  concluded  as  many  as  12  jobs  each.    These  boys 
belonged  to  that  shiftless  class  that  is  continually  moving  from 
place  to  place  and  job  to  job  in  search  of  excitement.    The  aver- 
age boy  passes  through  3  jobs  in  2  years.    Such  figures  empha- 
size the  instability  of  juvenile  occupations.     The  boys  do  not 
remain  in  one  occupation  for  a  very  long  period  of  time.    The 
work  that  they  are  in  is  unsatisfactory  and  does  not  succeed  in 
holding  them. 

LENGTH  OF  TIME  THE  BOYS  SPENT  IN  THE  JOBS 
A  few  of  the  boys  had  spent  over  three  years  on  a  job.    No 
job  is  included  in  these  figures  which  was  not  concluded  at  the 
time  of  the  investigation.     A  complete  analysis  is  shown  as 
follows : 

In  17  jobs  the  boys  spent  less  than  1  month 
In    37  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  1  and  2  months 
In  105  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  2  and  3  months 
In  138  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  3  and  4  months 


In  133  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  4  and  5  months 

In  102  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  5  and  6  months 

In  147  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  6  and  7  months 

In    90  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  7  and  8  months 

In    69  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  8  and  9  months 

In    85  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  9  and  10  months 

In    69  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  10  and  11  months 

In    25  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  11  and  12  months 

In  222  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  1  and  1%  years 

In  110  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  1%  and  2  years 

In    68  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  2  and  2y2  years 

In    25  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  2y2  and  3  years 

In    27  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  3  and  3%  years 

In      3  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  3^  and  4  years 

In    30  jobs  the  boys  spent  between  4  years  and  over 

Of  the  total  number  investigated,  218  had  not  concluded  their 

first  job  at  the  time  of  the  investigation,  and,  therefore,  are  not 

included  in  the  above  figures.     The  average  length  of  the  time 

for  a  job  is  shown  to  be  less  than  over  a  year.    The  boys  seem 

to  shift  a  great  deal.    Some  of  the  reasons  for  changes  are  given 

in  the  following  section. 

REASONS  THE  BOYS  GIVE  FOR  CHANGING  JOBS 
It  is  impossible  to  state  the  exact  number  of  boys  leaving  jobs 
for  any  particular  reason.  Some  of  them  ' '  wanted  better  pay, ' ' 
or  "to  find  a  better  job."  Others  did  not  like  the  work  they 
were  in  and  wanted  a  change."  Another  boy  said  he  "wanted 
inside  work."  About  20  per  cent  of  them  "lost  their  jobs,"  15 
per  cent  found  their  jobs  ' '  too  hard. ' '  a  few,  perhaps  7  per  cent, 
were  forced  to  leave  the  work  they  were  in  because  ' '  the  business 
failed."  One  boy  was  working  at  night  and  left  it  because  he 
'  *  wanted  day  work. ' '  Another  boy  who  was  working  on  a  punch- 
ing press  in  a  machine  shop  was  injured  slightly,  and  after  re- 
covering did  not  go  back. 

Reasons  that  are  given  many  times  are:  "Laid  off;"  "was 
let  out;"  "found  the  work  too  hard;"  "got  fired;"  "had 
trouble ; "  "  did  not  like  it ;"  "  moved  away ; "  or  "  came  to  Ameri- 
ca." 

Reasons  that  occur  rarely  are:  "Little  chance  for  improve- 
ment;" "no  future;"  "wanted  to  learn  a  trade;"  "was  ad- 


vanced  or  promoted;"  "left  the  work  because  it  wasn't  steady." 
The  one  striking  note  through  all  these  reasons  is  the  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  boys  for  better  wages.  They  seem  to  think 
more  of  an  increase  in  salary  than  they  do  of  an  advancement 
in  skill.  For  this  they  are  not  entirely  to  blame,  as  they  receive 
little  or  no  advice  to  the  contrary.  In  their  minds  the  boy  who 
is  getting  the  best  wages  is  the  most  successful  boy.  Their  idea 
oi  success  is  expressed  in  financial  terms.  In  a  later  section  more 
definite  evidence  is  given  for  this  conclusion. 

THE  BEGINNING  WAGES  OF  THE  BOYS 
One  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  the  study  pertains  to  the 
wages  received  by  the  boys  when  they  begin  work.     The  facts 
are  as  follows : 

4  boys  received  nothing  a  week 

7  boys  received  $1     a  week 

22  boys  received  $2    a  week 

87  boys  received  $3     a  week 

128  boys  received  $4    a  week 

124  boys  received  $5    a  week 

111  boys  received  $6     a  week 

94  boys  received  $7     a  week 

64  boys  received  $8    a  week 

47  boys  received  $9     a  week 

54  boys  received  $10  a  week 

6  boys  received  $11  a  week 

40  boys  received  $12  a  week 

4  boys  received  $13  a  week 

6  boys  received  $14  a  week 
22  boys  received  $15  a  week 

5  boys  received  $16  a  week 
2  boys  received  $17  a  week 

7  boys  received  $18  a  week 
2  boys  received  $19  a  week 
1  boy    received  $20  a  week 

The  range  is  from  nothing  to  $20  a  week.  The  average  is  about 
$5.50  a  week.  There  are  as  many  ivho  received  $5.50  or  less  a 
week  as  there  are  boys  ivho  receive  more  than  $5.50  a  iveek.  If 
we  leave  out  of  consideration  the  first  and  last  25  per  cent  of  the 


boys,  we  find  that  the  middle  50  per  cent  received  a  weekly  wage 
of  from  $4.50  to  $7. 

The  boys  working  in  coal-mines  are  of  special  interest.  This 
includes  37  boys.  Their  average  age  on  beginning  work  was 
found  to  be  14  years  and  6  months.  Their  beginning  wages  were 
$12  a  week.  However,  some  of  the  boys  received  as  low  as  $6, 
and  others  as  high  as  $20  a  week.  One  boy  worked  for  3  weeks 
in  this  occupation,  while  another  stayed  in  it  for  11  years.  The 
reasons  the  boys  give  for  leaving  coal-mining  are  interesting. 
Four  "got  hurt;"  in  the  case  of  3  the  "parents  objected;"  four 
said  they  "didn't  like  it;"  one  "got  fired;"  three  "wanted  to 
learn  a  trade." 

The  Mine  "Workers'  Union  has  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the 
elimination  of  boys  from  mining  occupations.  Practically  no 
boys  under  sixteen  are  now  used  to  drive  mules.  The  number 
of  trapper-boys  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  many  of  the  miners' 
adopting  overhead  systems  of  ventilation  that  make  trapdoors 
unnecessary.  The  fact  that  the  mine  operators  must  assume  all 
risk  for  boys  under  sixteen  has  also  tended  toward  their  elimina- 
tion. 

CORRELATIONS  BETWEEN  LEAVING  GRADE  AND 
BEGINNING  WAGE 

The  question  is  sometimes  asked,  Do  the  boys  who  leave  an 
advanced  grade  receive  a  higher  beginning  wage  than  those 
who  leave  a  lower  grade  of  the  public  school?  This  question  is 
answered  by  the  figures  in,  Table  No.  II.  The  wages  and  grade 
were  known  for  812  cases. 

Not  enough  boys  left  grades  below  the  fifth  to  make  our  figures 
worth  while.  The  average  (median)  wages  of  the  boys  leaving 
each  grade  above  the  fourth  were  as  follows: 

$4.25  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  5th  grade. 
4.50  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  6th  grade. 
5.20  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  7th  grade. 
5.60  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  8th  grade. 
6.00  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  1st  year  high  school. 
6.60  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  2nd  year  high  school. 
7.60  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  3rd  year  high  school. 
7.50  a  week  for  those  leaving  the  4th  year  high  school. 
If  one  argues  that  schooling  alone  is  the  reason  for  any  increase 


TABLE  NO.  II.     COEEELATION  BETWEEN  LEAVING  GEADE  AND 
BEGINNING  WAGE 


Avera 
Week 

ge 
ly  Wage 

Grade 

High    School 

1st    2d 

3d    4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

1st 

2d 

3d 

4th 

Total 

$1.00  and  under 

1 

4 

1 

6 

$1.01  to 

$2.00 

1        1 

1 

5 

1 

4 

4 

1 

18 

$2.01  tO 

$3.00 

4 

6 

14 

15 

26 

6 

4 

2 

77 

$3.01  to 

$4.00             1 

4 

10 

30 

19 

36 

13 

6 

2 

121 

$4.01  to 

$5.00 

2 

3 

17 

25 

45 

11 

9 

5 

1 

118 

$5.01  to 

$6.00             1 

1 

3 

18 

19 

37 

15 

11 

2 

3 

110 

$6.01  to 

$7.00 

1        3 

6 

6 

24 

30 

8 

8 

6 

92 

$7.01  to 

$8.00             1 

2 

1 

8 

8 

18 

10 

6 

1 

7 

62 

$8.01  to 

$9.00 

4 

8 

19 

10 

2 

4 

2 

49 

$9.01  to 

$10.00 

2 

7 

1 

27 

11 

6 

5 

1 

60 

$10.01  to  $11.00 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

6 

$11.01  to  $12.00 

1 

1 

1 

5   17 

5 

7 

3    2 

42 

$12.01  to  $13.00 

1 

4 

5 

$13.01  to$14.00 

1 

1 

2 

1 

5 

$14.01  to  $15.00 

1    1 

1 

3 

1   7 

2 

2 

2    1 

21 

$15.01  to  $16.00 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

6 

$16.01  to  $17.00 


$17.01  to  $18.00 


$18.01  to  $19.00 


$19.01  to  $20.00 


Totals    3 


23   37  118  131  275   98   73   33   18 


812 


in  wage  he  may  conclude  on  the  basis  of  these  figures  that  the 
average  boy  leaving  the  junior  or  senior  year  of  high  school  gets 
about  $1  more  a  week  than  the  average  boy  leaving  the  freshman 
or  sophomore  year,  and  that  the  average  boy  leaving  the  freshman 
or  sophomore  year  gets  about  $1  more  than  the  boy  leaving  the 
sixth,  seventh,  or  eighth  grade.  This  assumption  is  probably 
wrong.  We  can  not  be  sure  that  the  increase  in  amount  of 
schooling  is  the  real  reason  for  the  increase  in  wage.  Age  prob- 
ably is  a  much  more  important  factor  than  grade  in  determining 
the  beginning  wage.  In  fact  by  comparing  the  beginning  wage 
of  seventeen  year  old  boys  who  leave  one  grade  with  seventeen- 
year  old  boys  who  leave  another  grade  we  find  a  very  slight  in- 
crease. 

All  of  the  boys  who  were  17  years  old  when  they  left  school 
were  studied  to  see  if  those  who  left  advanced  grades  received 
higher  wages  than  those  who  left  lower  grades.  The  average  wage 
for  each  group  of  seventeen-year  old  boys  was  as  follows : 


4  boys  leaving  the     6th  grade  averaged  $6.00 

9  boys  leaving  the     7th  grade  averaged  6.00 

38  boys  leaving  the     8th  grade  averaged  8.00 

14  boys  leaving  the     9th  grade  averaged  8.00 

13  boys  leaving  the  10th  grade  averaged  7.00 

14  boys  leaving  the  llth  grade  averaged  6.50 
4  boys  leaving  the  12th  grade  averaged  7.00 

Boys  of  the  same  age  leaving  different  grades  get  about  the 
same  beginning  wages. 

CORRELATION  BETWEEN  LEAVING  AGE  AND 
BEGINNING  WAGE 

The  correlation  between  the  age  at  which  these  boys  left  school, 
and  the  average  weekly  wage  which  they  received  when  they 
began  is  set  forth  in  Table  No.  III. 

TABLE  NO.  III.     COBRELATION  BETWEEN  LEAVING  AGE 
AND  BEGINNING  WAGE 


Beginning 
wage           678 

9    10    11    12 

13 

14 

Ages 
15    16 

17 

18    19    20    21    22    Total 

$1  and   under 

1 

1 

3 

1 

6 

$1.01  to  $2 

1      1 

2 

11 

2 

1 

18 

$2.01  to  $3             1 

2              2 

20 

15 

17 

11 

5 

2      1 

76 

$3.01  to  $4        1 

113 

12 

50 

30 

14 

7 

1 

120 

$4.01  to  $5 

1              2 

12 

29 

42 

22 

5 

5 

118 

$5.01  to  $6 

1 

5 

26 

36 

26 

13 

4 

111 

$6.01  to  $7 

112 

7 

25 

22 

19 

9 

7 

93 

$7.01  to  $8 

1              1 

3 

8 

17 

15 

9 

521 

62 

$8.01  to  $9 

4 

3 

7 

12 

6 

13 

3       1 

49 

$9.01  to  $10 

1 

2 

8 

9 

21 

9 

8      2 

60 

$10.01  to  $11 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

6 

$11.01  to  $12 

4 

8 

14 

9 

6 

41 

$12.01  to  $13 

1 

4 

2 

7 

$13.01  to  $14 

2 

1 

1 

1 

5 

$14.01  to  $15 

1 

1 

3 

4 

3 

8 

1 

1          22 

$15.01  to  $16 

1 

2 

2 

5 

$16.01  to  $17 

1 

1 

2 

$17.01  to  $18 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1      1 

7 

$18.01  to  $19 

1 

1 

2 

$19.01  to  $20 

3 

3 

Totals          1    1 

6      4    18 

71 

192 

211 

157 

93 

49      7      2 

1        813 

Table  No.  Ill  should  be  read  as  follows : 
One  6  year  old  boy  received  from 


to  $4. 


One  7  year  old  boy  received  from  $2  to  $3,  etc. 
Very  few  boys  went  to  work  before  they  were  fourteen  years 
of  age,  and  very  few  received  less  than  $2  a  week.  In  fact  there 
are  so  few  cases  of  boys  under  twelve  years  of  age  that  compari- 
sons are  hardly  reliable.  The  same  is  true  of  boys  more  than 
nineteen  years  of  age.  But  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and 
eighteen  sufficient  cases  are  available  to  justify  comparison. 

The  correlations  between  leaving  ages  and  beginning  wages 
are  as  follows : 

$4.10  a  week  for  boys  13  years  of  age. 

4.90  a  week  for  boys  14  years  of  age. 

4.30  a  week  for  boys  15  years  of  age. 

5.25  a  week  for  boys  16  years  of  age. 

7.60  a  week  for  boys  17  years  of  age. 

8.80  a  wreek  for  boys  18  years  of  age 

According  to  these  figures  the  older  the  boy  when  he  begins 
work  the  higher  his  wage.  Between  boys  13,  14,  and  15  years  of 
age  there  is  little  difference.  But  after  the  fifteenth  year  there 
is  a  remarkable  increase;  $1  a  week  from  15  to  16,  nearly  $1.50 
from  16  to  17,  and  more  than  $1  from  17  to  18. 

The  amount  of  wages  received  by  boys  13,  14,  and  15  years  of 
age  would  hardly  justify  their  withdrawal  from  school.  The 
report  of  the  United  States  Government  claims  that  at  least  $2 
a  week  is  necessary  for  the  self-maintenance  of  a  person  more 
than  10  years  of  age.  Using  this  figure  as  a  minimum  standard, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  thirteen-year  old  boys  are  making  about 
twice  as  much  as  is  absolutely  necessary  for  existence.  However, 
the  figures  in  the  government  report  are  considered  by  many 
economists  as  very  low.  It  would  certainly  be  difficult  for  a  Des 
Moines  or  Sioux  City  boy  to  live  and  save  if  receiving  the  mini- 
mum weekly  wage  above  indicated. 

CORRELATION  BETWEEN  WAGES  AND  YEARS  OF 
EXPERIENCE 

Additional  data  upon  the  question  raised  in  the  preceding  sec- 
tion are  furnished  by  a  study  of  the  relationship  that  exists  be- 
tween the  increase  in  weekly  wages  and  years  of  experience.  One 
would  naturally  expect  a  boy  who  has  been  out  of  school  3  years 
to  get  a  higher  wage  than  a  boy  who  has  been  out  of  school  1  year, 
a  boy  who  has  been  out  of  school  5  years  a  higher  wage  than  a 


boy  who  has  been  out  of  school  2  years.  Just  how  much  experi- 
ence counts  is,  however,  a  much  more  difficult  question  to  answer. 
In  Table  No.  IV.  the  figures  across  the  top  refer  to  years  of  ex- 

TABLE  NO.  IV.     COKKELATION  BETWEEN  WAGES  AND  YEAES 
OF  EXPEBIENCE 


Average 
weekly  wages 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Years  of  Experience 
6      7      8      9    10    11    12    13 

14    15  Totals 

$1  and  under 

$1.01  to  $2 

5 

2 

1 

8 

$2.01  to  $3 

11 

7 

2 

1 

21 

$3.01  to  $4 

37 

13 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

58 

$4.01  to  $5 

36 

23 

1 

3 

1 

1 

65 

$5.01  to  $6 

26 

19 

16 

4 

2 

67 

$6.01  to  $7 

16 

30 

12 

7 

4 

1 

2              11 

74 

$7.01  to  $8 

15 

20 

14 

20 

6 

3 

1              2 

81 

$8.01  to  $9 

13 

26 

21 

10 

9 

2 

34              1 

89 

$9.01  to  $10 

7 

5 

6 

3 

4 

2 

2 

29 

$10.01  to  $11 

8 

16 

18 

16 

14 

13 

31111 

92 

$11.01  to  $12 

2 

3 

1 

3 

6 

1 

3                             1 

1          21 

$12.01  to  $13 

2 

4 

5 

4 

5 

4 

2              1 

27 

$13.01  to  $14 

8 

10 

6 

16 

12 

10 

3321              1 

72 

$14.01  to  $15 

2 

3 

1 

16 

$15.01  to  $16 

1 

2 

4 

3 

1 

1 

12 

$16.01  to  $17 

2 

3 

2 

5 

8 

5 

1223 

33 

$17.01  to  $18 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

5 

$18.01  to  $19 

2 

3 

2 

3 

3 

22 

$19.01  to  $20 

3 

1 

4 

$20.01  to  $21 

1 

1 

2 

4 

$21.01  to  $22 

1                      1 

2 

$22.01  to  $23 

1 

1 

1 

3 

$23.01  to  $24 

1 

2       1 

4 

$24.01  to  $25 

1 

1 

$25.01  to  $26 

2 

1 

3 

$26.01  to  $27 

1 

1 

2 

$27.01  to  $28 

$28.01  to  $29 

1 

1 

$29.01  to  $30 

$30.01  to  $31 

$31.01  to  $32 

$32.01  to  $33 

1 

1 

$33.01  to  $34 

$34.01  to  $35 

$35.01  to  $36 

$36.01  to  $37 

1 

1 

Totals 

194 

188 

113 

110 

86 

55 

30    15    12      9      2      3 

1        818 

perience,  such  as  1  year,  2  years,  3  years,  4  years,  etc.  By 
"years  of  experience"  is  meant  that  the  boy  had  been  out  of 
school  and  at  work  at  least  1  year,  2  years,  3  years,  etc.  The 
figures  down,  the  left-hand  side  of  the  page  refer  to  the  average 
weekly  wages  recived  during  the  year.  For  example :  5  boys  had 
been  out  of  school  1  year  and  had  received  an  average  weekly 
wage  of  from  $1.01  to  $2  a  week ;  11  boys  had  been  out  of  school 
1  year  and  had  received  an  average  wage  of  from  $2  to  $3  a  week, 
etc.,  for  the  remainder  of  the  table. 

From  Table  No.  IV.  we  may  draw  the  following  conclusions 
with  regard  to  the  financial  value  of  different  years  of  experience. 
The  weekly  wages  received  are  as  follows : 

$  5.30  a  week  during  the  1st  year  of  experience 
6.05  a  week  during  the  2nd  year  of  experience 
8.50  a  week  during  the  3rd  year  of  experience 
10.33  a  week  during  the  4th  year  of  experience 
10.00  a  week  during  the  5th  year  of  experience 
11.00  a  week  during  the  6th  year  of  experience 
11.66  a  week  during  the  7th  year  of  experience 
14.30  a  week  during  the  8th  year  of  experience 
14.50  a  week  during  the  9th  year  of  experience 
That  experience  is  the  chief  factor  in  determining  the  wages 
of  these  ~boys  is  very  evident.    The  boys  with  2  years  of  experi- 
ence received  almost  $1  more  than  those  with  1  year  experience, 
while  those  with  3  years  of  experience  received  over  $3  more  per 
week.    Those  with  4  years  of  experince  have  doubled  their  wages. 
They  do  not  reach  a  level  until  about  the  8th  or  ninth  year  of  ex- 
perience, and  are  then  receiving  over  $14  a  week,  and  are  more 
than  21  years  of  age. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  compare  these  figures  with  figures 
on  an  equal  number  of  cases  of  boys  graduating  from  high 
school,  but  such  figures  are  not  at  present  available.  How  much 
more  saoney  high  school  graduates  in  Iowa  would  receive  at  the 
end  of  6  or  9  years  of  experience  can  only  be  inferred.  Perhaps 
many  of  the  conclusions  with  regard  to  the  value  of  school  train- 
ingt  which  in  the  last  few  years  we  have  been  telling  high  school 
and  grammar  school  boys  are  not  as  acurate  as  we  have  thought. 
Before  we  can  present  to  boys  the  actual  facts  further  careful 
study  must  be  made  along  these  lines. 


AVERAGE  ANNUAL  INCREASE  IN  WAGES  PER  YEARS 

OF  EXPERIENCE 

In  order  to  find  out  just  how  rapidly  the  boys  increased  in 
wages  over  their  initial  wage  a  study  was  made  of  their  average 
annual  increase.  For  example,  Case  No.  204  had  been  out  of 
school  5  years.  He  received  a  wage  of  $3.50  to  start  with  and 
was  getting  a  wage  of  $10  at  the  time  of  the  investigation,,  which 
was  after  5  years  of  experience.  That  is  he  had  increased  $6.50 
in  5  years,  which  would  give  him  an  average  annual  increase  of 
$1.30  a  week.  He  would  appear  in  Table  No.  V  under  column 
marked  5  years,  and  opposite  the  left  hand  column  marked 
$1.01  to  $1.50.  The  other  cases  were  studied  in  the  same  way. 

TABLE  NO.  V.     AVERAGE   ANNUAL  INCREASE  IN  WAGES  FOB 
YEARS  OF  EXPERIENCE 


Average 
increase    in 
weekly    wages 

-1 

1 

2 

3 

Number 
4      5 

of  years  of  experience 
6      7      8      9    10  11  12  13  14  15  Totals 

No   increase 

13 

29 

16 

4 

4 

6 

1                    1 

74 

Under   50   cents 

2 

5 

11 

9 

10 

8 

6631 

61 

$$     .51  to  $1.00 

4 

38 

12 

22 

17 

9 

93514          111 

127 

$1.01  to  $1.50 

1 

19 

25 

18 

21 

9 

10      4      1      1      5 

114 

$1.51  to  $2.00 

5 

23 

28 

18 

12 

11 

10      4      3      4      1 

119 

$2.01  to  $2.50 

1 

11 

14 

5 

7 

10 

641 

59 

$2.51  to  $3.00 

1 

18 

11 

7 

7 

2 

3 

49 

$3.01  to  $3.50 

2 

8 

2 

9 

3 

24 

$3.51  to  $4.00 

3 

5 

3 

6 

4 

3 

2 

26 

$4.01  to  $4.50 

6 

2 

2 

10 

$4.51  to  $5.00 

1 

6 

1 

1 

1 

10 

$5.01  to  $6.00 

3 

2 

1 

6 

$6.01  to  $7.00 

2 

1 

3 

$7.01  to  $8.00 

5 

5 

$8.01  to  $9.00 

1 

1 

$9.01  to  $10.00 

1 

1 

$10.01  to  $11.00 

1 

1 

1 

3 

$11.01  to  $12.00 

1 

1 

Totals 

35 

172 

134 

93 

81 

64 

48    21    13      8    11          111 

683 

From  the  foregoing  table  it  may  be  seen  that  74  cases  had  not 
made  any  annual  increase  in  wages.  The  others  had  increased 
in  wages  from  less  than  50  cents  to  $12.  a  week.  The  boys  average 
an  increase  of  a  little  less  than  $2  a  week  for  each  year  out  up 
to  and  including  the  ninth  year.  This  would  seem  to  be  a  fairly 
good  rate  of  progress.  The  cases  from  which  no  data  could  be 
secured  are  not  included  in  this  table. 


THE  DIFFERENT  OCCUPATIONS  IN  WHICH  THE  BOYS 
WERE  ENGAGED 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  number  of  different 
lines  of  work  in  which  these  boys  were  engaged.  In  fact  there 
is  no  standard  to  follow  in  determining  what  is  and  what  is  not 
an  occupation.  A  boy  may  be  working  at  carpentry  work  in 
making  brooms  in  a  broom-factory,  or  he  may  be  working  at 
carpentry  work  in  a  cabinet-maker's  shop.  In  the  first  case  he 
would  be  apt  to  call  himself  a  "scraper,"  and  in  the  second  a 
carpenter's  helper.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  many  different 
lines  of  work.  It  becomes  necessary,  therefore,  to  group  the 
occupations,  and  that  has  been  done  in  this  section.  The  oc- 
cupations are  then  studied  with  regard  to  their  popularity  among 
boy  workers.  For  example,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  lists  which  fol- 
low, 59  different  boys  worked  at  one  time  or  another  in  occupa- 
tions which  are  listed  under  the  heading  "printers".  For  con- 
venience in  considering  the  pursuits  that  boys  are  likely  to  get 
into,  the  list  has  been  divided.  In  the  first  list  occur  all  the 
occupations  in  which  at  least  ten  of  the  boys  had  at  some  time 
worked.  In  the  second  list  all  occupations  in  which  less  than  ten 
boys  at  any  time  worked. 

THE  THIRTY-THREE  MOST  POPULAR  PURSUITS 
AMONG  IOWA  BOYS 

Helpers  and  general  workers  376 

Drivers  (delivery,  transfer,  teamsters,  etc.)  256 

Clerks  (shipping,  stock,  sales,  etc.)  233 

Errand  and  messenger  boys  157 

Farm  hands  (gardeners,  dairymen,  etc)  130 

Wrappers  and  packers  79 

Apprentices  (all  occupations)  69 

Printers  (pressman^  type  and  linotype,  etc.)  59 

Office  boys  57 

Bill  posters  and  peddlers  49 

Porters,  pages,  hall  and  bell  boys  48 

Hosiery  mill  operatives  39 

R.  R.  hands  (brakeman,  section,  freight,  etc.)  25 

Elevator  boys  22 
Cement  workers  (mixers,  feeders,  carriers,  etc.)  22 


Electrical  workers  (wiring,  lineman,  switch- 
board, etc.)  21 
Water  boys  21 
Bookkeepers,  stenographers,  and  time  keepers  21 
Drafters  and  engravers  20 
Machinists  20 
Waiters  20 
Agents  and  collectors  18 
Tailors  18 
Cutters  (glass,  shoe,  paper,  etc.)  15 
Soda  fountain  boys  15 
Painters  and  decorators  14 
Cigar  makers  14 
Labelers  and  letter  addressers  11 
Pressers  (clothes)  11 
Bootblacks  11 
Checkers,  sorters,  and  ticket  takers  11 
Miners  11 
Cash  boys  10 

THE  SEVENTY  EIGHT  OCCUPATIONS  NOT  SO  POPULAR 

Butchers  9  Upholsterers  5 
Factory  workers  (n.o.s.)  9  Journeymen  5 
Foremen  and  managers  9  Optical  workers  (mount- 
Telegraphers  8                      ing  and  grinding  4 
Musicians  (playing,  Janitors  4 

singing,  tuning)  8  Cooks  4 

Sign  painters,  stencil-  Horsetraders  and  hos- 

ers  and  markers  8                      tiers  4 

Chauffeurs  8  Bakers  4 

Box  factory  workers  7  Carpenters  4 

Bottle  washers  7  Solicitors  3 

Tinners  6  Weavers  (rug  and  bas- 

Moulders  6                      ket)  3 

Firemen  (fire  dept.  Contractors  3 

and  engine)  6  Inspectors  3 

Pin  setter  and  ball  racker  6  Bottlers  3 

Candy  makers  and  Riveters  3 

mixers  5  Caddies,  guides,  jockeys  3 

Polishers  5  Bricklayers  3 


Fowl  pickers  3 
Lathe  workers  3 
Mail  clerks  3 
Lumbermen  3 
Tool  makers  3 
Operators  (motion  pic- 
tures) 2 
Engineers  (r.r.)  2 
Ice  men  2 
Actors  2 
Cashiers  2 
Brick  and  tile  dressers  2 
Blacksmiths  2 
Book  binders  .  2 
"Wipers  2 
Furriers  2 
Fruit  pickers  2 
Pattern  makers  2 
Boiler  makers  2 
Barbers  2 
Floor  walker  1 
Picture  framer  1 
Syrup  maker  1 


Shearer  1 

Corn  husker  1 

Paperer  1 

Oiler  1 

Boatman  1 

Coal  Shoveler  1 

Stone  cutter  1 

Vulcanizer  1 

Bar  tender  1 

Sailor  1 

Ranger  1 

Coat  maker  1 

Tramp  1 

Button  maker  1 

Glazier  1 

Art  glass  cementer  1 

Glove  trimmer  1 

Florist  1 

Dye  setter  1 

Toy  maker  1 

Harness  maker  1 

Reporter  1 

1 


Steam  fitter 

Relatively  few  of  the  pursuits  in  the  above  list  are  skilled, 
though  in  many  of  them  there  is  some  opportunity  for  advance- 
ment. A  rough  estimate  would  seem  to  indicate  that  from  75 
to  80  per  cent  of  the  boys  were  engaged  in  unskilled  or  semi- 
skilled pursuits.  By  unskilled  and  semi-skilled  pursuits  is  here 
meant  a  pursuit  in  which  the  operations  to  be  performed  are 
relatively  few  in  number,  simple  in  character,  and  for  the  most 
part  uncoordinated  with  operations  which  precede  and  follow. 
Most  of  these  operations  can  be  easily  and  quickly  learned,  and 
the  grade  of  ability  and  the  responsibility  required  is  relatively 
low. 

It  may  be  concluded  from  these  figures  that  the  most  common 
method  followed  by  boys  in  learning  a  vocation  is  a  "  trial  and 
success"  method.  They  go  to  work  and  try  this  or  that  pursuit 
to  see  whether  or  not  they  are  suited  to  it  or  it  is  suited  to  them. 
It  may  be  contended  that  this  is  a  very  wasteful  method  and 
undoubtedly  the  contention  can  be  supported  by  considerable 


evidence.  On  the  other  hand  as  the  present  system  of  industry 
is  organized  no  adequate  substitute  has  as  yet  been  provided. 
Nor  is  it  proved  that  vocational  education  as  introduced  in  other 
cities  in  this  country  provides  a  totally  adequate  substitute. 

CORRELATION  BETWEEN  PREVIOUS  WORK  AND 
FUTURE  AMBITION 

The  last  question  that  the  investigators  were  instructed  to  ask 
of  each  boy  concerned  the  boy's  ambition.  It  was  expected  that 
many  of  them  would  be  satisfied  with  the  line  of  work  in  which 
they  were  or  had  been  engaged,  while  others  would  desire  to  en- 
ter other  pursuits.  In  this  connection  special  cases  may  be  in- 
teresting. 

Case  No.  11  began  work  as  a  clerk  at  $8  a  week,  and  after  5 
years  of  experience  was  a  clerk  receiving  $11  a  week.  He  had 
no  desire  to  change  his  occupation  at  the  time  of  the  investiga- 
tion. 

Case  No.  18,  on  the  ether  hand,  began  as  a  coal  digger  at  $14 
a  week  and  left  it  to  enter  an  automobile  shop  at  a  lower  weekly 
wage,  $6,  where  the  opportunity  for  advancement  was  much 
greater  and  the  work  of  a  more  skilled  character.  He  expressed 
himself  when  interviewed  as  ambitious  to  become  an  expert 
mechanic. 

Case  No.  55  left  the  eighth  grade  and  began  work  at  the  age 
of  15  as  cook  at  $12.50  a  week  and  continued  in  the  same  posi- 
tion and  at  the  same  wage  for  5  years.  During  that  time  he 
completed  a  course  in  a  correspondence  school  in  draftsmanship 
with  the  intention  of  becoming  a  draftsman. 

Case  No.  117  came  to  Des  Moines  from  Missouri.  While  in 
Missouri  he  finished  the  first  grade  of  the  public  school  when 
he  was  6  years  old.  His  father  then  took  him  out  of  school  and 
put  him  out  to  work  on  a  farm  where  for  7  years  he  labored  for 
his  board  and  lodging  and  spending  money.  When  he  was  13 
years  old  he  came  to  Des  Moines  and  became  a  coal-digger  at 
$12  a  week.  He  remained  in  this  occupation  for  3  years  and 
at  the  end  of  that  time  became  a  cattle-helper  in  the  stock  yard 
at  $6  per  week  and  board.  After  15  years  of  experience  he  is 
now  a  truck-farm  driver  receiving  $9  per  week  and  board.  He 
can  read  and  write  poorly  and  has  no  ambition  for  any  particular 
pursuit. 


The  above  cases  exhibit  the  variety  of  vocational  experience 
through  which  boys  pass.  According  to  our  data  of  the  entire 
group  of  boys  studied  628  (75  per  cent)  had  an  ambition  and 
216  (25  per  cent)  had  no  preference  for  any  particular  occupa- 
tion ;  that  is,  they  were  satisfied  with  what  they  were  doing  or  at 
least  could  not,  at  the  time  of  the  investigation,,  state  anything 
that  they  would  rather  do. 

A  boy  was  considered  as  having  an  ambition  if  he  expressed 
a  desire  to  prepare  for  and  enter  any  particular  occupation.  A 
boy  whose  ambition  for  the  future  was  along  exactly  the  same 
line  of  work  as  that  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  for  the  ma- 
jority of  the  time  since  leaving  school  was  classed  in  the  group 
whose  previous  work  and  future  ambition  correlated  almost 
perfectly.  In  this  group  must  be  placed  35  per  cent  of  the  628 
boys  having  an  ambition. 

A  boy  who  had  been  engaged  but  a  very  small  portion  of  his 
time  since  leaving  school  in  a  line  which  corresponded  with  his 
ambition  was  classed  in  the  group  whose  previous  work  and 
future  ambition  correlated  but  slightly.  This  group  includes 
23  per  cent  of  the  ambitious  boys. 

The  wrork  of  a  boy  was  classed  as  not  correlating  with  his 
ambition  when  he  desired  to  enter  a  pursuit  in  which  he  had  had 
absolutely  no  experience.  This  group  includes  255  cases,  42  per 
cent  of  those  having  an  ambition. 

FINANCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  RELATION  TO  FUTURE 
AMBITION 

The  records  of  the  boys  who  had  an  ambition  were  studied  with 
regard  to  whether  or  not  they  had  made  financial  progress  since 
leaving  school.  By  financial  progress  is  here  meant  any  increase 
no  matter  how  slight  in  weekly  wages.  The  increase  is  considered 
without  regard  to  the  age  of  the  boy  or  the  amount  of  experience 
which  he  had  received. 

Of  the  628  boys  who  had  a  definite  ambition  501  (79  per  cent) 
had  made  some  financial  progress  since  leaving  school,  and  21 
per  cent  had  failed  to  make  any  financial  progress.  Of  the  210 
boys  who  had  no  definite  ambition  188  (82  per  cent)  had  made 
financial  progress,  and  18  per  cent  had  failed  to  make  any  finan- 
cial progress.  There  is  practically  no  difference  between  these 
two  groups  with  respect  to  this  point.  On  the  other  hand  93  per 


cent  of  the  ambitious  boys  whose  previous  work  correlated  al- 
most perfectly  with  their  future  ambition  have  made  financial 
progress,  while  only  about  75  per  cent  of  the  boys  whose  previous 
work  and  future  ambition  correlated  but  slightly  or  not  at  all 
have  made  financial  progress.  From  these  figures  it  appears  that 
proportionally  more  boys  who  are  working  along  lines  in  which 
they  desire  to  continue  are  financially  successful  than  those 
whose  ambitions  lie  outside  of  the  field  of  their  previous  work. 

FINANCIAL  PROGRESS  IN  RELATION  TO  PROGRESS 
TOWARD  SKILL 

A  comparative  study  of  the  ambitious  and  the  unambitious 
groups  was  made  to  determine  the  financial  progress  and  the  rela- 
tive amount  of  progress  which  the  two  groups  had  made  toward 
skill.  It  was  recognized  that  there  are  two  ways  of  making  pro- 
gress toward  skill :  first,  by  changing  from  an  unskilled  occupa- 
tion, as  that  of  office  or  messenger-boy,  to  a  more  skilled  occupa- 
tion, as  that  of  clerk  or  apprentice;  second  by  making  progress 
in  skill  while  remaining  in  a  given  occupation,  as  in  printing. 
In  this  study  the  latter  was  determined  by  a  consideration  of  the 
time  spent  in  the  occupation  and  the  increase  of  wages  shown  as 
well  as  by  the  character  of  the  occupation  itself. 

In  general  two  groups  were  easily  distinguishable,  one  making 
noted  progress  toward  skill  and  one  not  making  any  progress. 
After  some  deliberation  it  was  decided  that  credit  would  be 
given  for  noted  progress  toward  skill  only  in  case  the  record 
showed  continuous  employment  for  three  years  or  more  in  one 
trade  or  position;  for  example,  three  years  as  a  brick-layer  or 
machinist,  etc.  About  17  per  cent  of  the  boys  with  an  ambition 
had  made  noted  progress  toward  skill.  Only  12  per  cent  of  the 
group  without  an  ambition  had  made  noted  progress  toward 
skill. 

Credit  for  no  progress  toward  skill  was  given  to  errand  boys, 
day  laborers,  farm  workers  or  helpers  in  any  trade,  factory 
positions  or  business  for  less  than  one  year.  Approximately  63 
percent  of  the  boys  without  an  ambition  and  only  45  per  cent  of 
the  ambitious  boys  fall  in  this  group. 

All  others,  including  doubtful  cases,  were  placed  in  the  group 
showing  little  progress  toward  skill.  This  group  includes  25 
percent  of  the  unambitious  and  38  per  cent  of  the  ambitious  boys. 


TABLE  NO.  VI. 


Progress  in  skill  and 
financial  progress 

Boys  having 
Ambition 

no 

Boys  having 
Ambition 

an 

Number       Per  cent 
of  cases        of  cases 

Number       Per 
of  cases       of 

cent 

cases 

NOTABLE  PROGRESS  IN  SKILL 

27 

12 

106 

17 

(1)  Financial  progress 

27 

100 

104 

99 

(2)  No  financial  progress 

0 

2 

1 

LITTLE  PROGRESS  IN  SKILL 

54 

25 

238 

38 

(1)  Financial  progress 

46 

85 

211 

88 

(2)  No  financial  progress 

8 

15 

27 

12 

NO  PROGRESS  IN  SKILL 

135 

63 

284 

45 

(1)   Financial  progress 

100 

74 

202 

71 

(2)  No  financial  progress 

35 

26 

82 

29 

Table  No.  VI.  contains  the  data  for  the  three  groups.  From 
this  table  it  is  evident  that  a  larger  number  of  'boys  with  an  am- 
bition make  progress  toward  skill  than  do  boys  without  an  am- 
bition, and  at  the  same  time  they  make  about  the  same  financial 
progress. 

THE    DIFFERENT    OCCUPATIONS    FOR    WHICH    THE 
BOYS  DESIRED  TO  PREPARE 

The  names  of  the  different  occupations  for  which  the  ambi- 
tious boys  desired  to  prepare  follow.  They  are  distributed  under 
nine  headings  as  given  by  the  United  States  census  of  occupa- 
tions, 1910.  The  figures  which  precede  the  names  indicate  the 
number  of  boys  desiring  to  follow  the  particular  line. 

I.  Agriculture,  forestry  and  animal  husbandry. 

Only  28  of  the  boys  desired  to  follow  agricultural  pursuits. 
The  number  is  surprisingly  small,  when  we  remember  that  130 
of  the  boys  had  worked  at  various  times  in  agricultural  occupa- 
tions. Apparently  the  back-to-the-farm  movement  has  not 
affected  these  boys  to  any  great  extent. 

II.  Extraction  of  minerals. 

Only  two  of  the  boys  expressed  themselves  as  desiring  to  be 
coal-miners.  When  we  remember  that  38  boys  had  had  experi- 
ence along  this  line  these  figures  would  seem  to  indicate  that 


mining  is  not  an  occupation  for  which  boys  are  very  anxious  to 
prepare. 

III.  Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries  and  pursuits. 
There  were  325  boys  who  desired  to  enter  lines  listed  under 

this  heading.    The  most  common  lines  are  as  follows : 

65  machinists  3  broom  makers 

50  printers  2  masons 

29  carpenters  2  lithographers 

20  electrical  engineers  2  tinners 

20  mechanics  2  bookbinders 

19  electricians  1  contractor 

16  civil  engineers  1  furniture  man 

13  plumbers  1  moulder 

10  candy  makers  1  tool  maker 

8  bricklayers  1  bottler 

5  painters  and  paper  1  sheet  metal  worker 

hangers  1  weaver 

4  bakers  1  locomotive  fireman 

4  blacksmiths  1  expert  tuner 

5  jewelers  1  vulcanizer 
3  boiler  makers  1  tenter 

3  saddlers  1  upholsterer 

Apparently  the  boys  are  more  interested  in  manufacturing  and 
mechanical  pursuits  than  in  agricultural  and  mining  industries. 
One  result  as  shown  in  these  figures  in  the  tendency  away  from 
many  of  the  occupations  in  which  the  boys  have  had  considerable 
preliminary  experience.  While  376  boys  had  some  experience 
as  general  workers  none  gave  this  as  their  ambition.  The  same 
is  true  of  errand-boys,  drivers,  messenger-boys,  wrappers,  and 
packers.  The  boys  seemed  to  realize  that  many  of  their  early 
occupations  are  typical  blind-alleys.  While  more  than  75  per 
cent  of  them  were  or  had  been  employed  in  unskilled  lines,  over 
60  per  cent  desired  to  leave  such  lines  for  more  skilled  trades. 
Only  200  had  had  experience  along  manufacturing  lines,  although 
as  already  shown,  325  desired  such  experience. 

IV.  Transportation. 

Only  45  boys  desired  to  follow  lines  that  are  listed  under  this 
heading.    The  list  is  as  follows : 


15  telegraphers  2  mail  carriers 

7  locomotive  engineers  3  messengers 

4  chauffeurs  2  brakemen 

4  mail  clerks  1  switchman 

4  rairroad  officials  1  fireman 

2  railroad  dispatchers 

About  an  equal  number  of  boys  had  had  experience  along  these 
lines.  With  the  exception  of  the  messengers  these  workers  may- 
be considered  skilled  employees.  It  is  significant  that  for  the 
most  part  those  who  had  experience  in  skilled  lines  desired  to 
remain  in  the  same. 

V.  Trade  and  commerce. 

One  hundred  nineteen  boys  desired  to  enter  lines  that  are 
listed  by  the  United  States  census  as  concerned  with  trading  and 
commerce.  They  are  as  follows : 

38  business  men  12  optical  business 

12  clerks  and  agents  9  auto  business 

9  grocerymen  1  decorator 

7  pharmacists  1  cigarette  business 

2  hardware  business  1  window  trimmer 

2  bankers  1  tailor 

3  cutters  1  newsboy 
1  china  store  1  butcher 

1  cigar  maker 

About  the  same  number  of  boys  had  had  experience  along  these 
lines,  though  most  of  them  in  minor  positions  such  as  office  boys, 
wrappers,  messengers,  etc.  Commercial  pursuits  appear  to  suc- 
ceed in  holding  children,  who  had  some  preliminary  experience 
in  the  same. 

VI.  Professional  service. 

Fifty-three  boys  desired  to  enter  lines  that  are  listed  under 
the  heading  professional  service.  They  are  distributed  as  fol- 
lows: 

6  musicians  2  teachers 

7  newspaper  work  2  actors 

4  physicians  2  veterinary  surgeons 
4  lawyers  2  dentists 

3  draftsmen  2  civil  service 

2  advertising  artists  1  chemist 


1  artist  1  author 

1  minister  1  photo  engraver 

1  violinist  1  photographer 

1  journalist  1  vaudeville 
3  architects  1  reporter 

3  sign  painters  1  cartoonists 

Very  few  of  the  boys  had  had  any  experience  in  professional  pur- 
suits. That  so  many  of  them  desired  such  experience  is  signifi- 
cant. It  is  another  indication  of  the  inability  of  juvenile  occu- 
pations to  hold  their  workers.  The  boys  realize  as  they  grow 
older  that  the  skilled  trades  and  professions  offer  them  better 
opportunities  for  vocational  supremacy. 

VII.  Domestic  and  personal  service. 

3  bootblacks  1  cook 

3  barbers  1  restaurant 

3  hotel  owners  1  hospital  work 

2  clothes  pressers  1  laundry 

2  pool  hall  business 

Only  16  boys  were  ambitious  to  follow  domestic  and  personal  pur- 
suits. Over  75  had  had  experience  along  these  lines.  Apparent- 
ly domestic  and  personal  service  is  not  primarily  attractive  to 
growing  boys. 

VIII.  Clerical  occupations. 

Clerking  is  not  an  attractive  occupation  to  many  of  these  boys. 
Only  26  were  ambitious  along  this  line.  Their  ambitions  varied 
as  follows: 

15  bookkeepers  6  stenographers 

3  office  work  2  stockroom  in  store 
It  is  very  difficult  to  classify  the  remaining  boys  in  any  of  the 

foregoing  groups.  Three  of  them  desired  to  go  to  college.  One 
wanted  to  enter  the  navy,  one  to  operate  a  moving  picture  ma- 
chine, one  to  be  a  prize  fighter,  and  one  an  aviator. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  chief  facts  brought  out  by  this  study  may  be  summarized 
briefly. 

1.  More  than  40  per  cent  of  the  boys  leave  schools  located  in 
cities  other  than  the  one  in  which  they  are  now  living.  This 
means  that  if  these  boys  were  to  receive  vocational  education  for 


the  various  pursuits  which  they  -enter  it  would  be  necessary 
for  them  to  receive  it  before  coming  to  Des  Moines  and  Sioux 
City.    A  compulsory  system  of  continuation  school  attendance 
might  succeed  in  reaching  most  of  these  boys. 

2.  Workers  in  juvenile  occupations  are  recruited  largely  from 
the  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  grades  of  the  public  schools  and  at 
about  the  time  when  the  children  are  fourteen,  fifteen.,  and  six- 
teen years  of  age. 

3.  Boys  leave  school  for  a  great  variety  of  reasons.     The 
three  most  commonly  offered  are  "necessity,"  "dissatisfaction 
with  school,"  and  "preference  for  work."     However,  lack  of 
parental  control  and  interest  is  probably  the  chief  cause. 

4.  About  75  per  cent  of  the  boys  go  to  work  immediately  and 
only  a  very  small  percentage  are  idle  more  than  a  month  after 
leaving  school.     This  would  indicate  that  there  are  plenty  of 
opportunities  for  boys  who  want  to  work. 

5.  Over  85  per  cent  of  the  jobs  which  these  boys  entered  were 
secured  by  the  boys  themselves  with  little  or  no  assistance.    For 
the  most  part,  teachers  do  not  attempt  to  assist  them  in  securing 
employment.    The  boys  as  they  leave  school  are  thrown  on  their 
own  resources.    Vocational  guidance  would  probably  be  of  great 
value  to  most  of  these  boys. 

6.  On  the  average  a  boy  passes  through  three  jobs  in  two 
years.    It  is  evident  from  this  that  the  work  that  the  boys  are 
in  is  unsatisfactory  and  does  not  succeed  in  holding  them. 

7.  The  boys  give  a  great  variety  of  reasons  for  quitting  jobs. 
Their  chief  reason  seems  to  be  a  desire  for  better  wages.    They 
think  more  of  an  increase  in  salary  than  they  do  of  an  advance- 
ment in  skill. 

8.  The  beginning  wages  of  boys  is  about  $5.50  a  week.    This 
includes  boys  of  different  ages.     The  range  is  from  nothing  to 
$20  a  week.    Fifty  per  cent  of  the  boys  receive  a  beginning  week- 
ly wage  of  from  $4.50  to  $7.     This  would  seem  fair  wages  for 
inexperienced  boys  of  these  ages. 

9.  Boys  of  the  same  age  receive  about  the  same  beginning 
wage  regardless  of  the  number  of  years  of  schooling  which  they 
have  had.    Age  is  probably  a  much  more  important  factor  than 
grade  of  schooling  in  determining  the  beginning  wage. 

10.  Boys  eighteen  years  of  age  receive  nearly  twice  the  weekly 
wage  of  boys  fourteen  years  old  when  they  leave  school.    Between 


boys  thirteen,  fourteen,  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  is  little  differ- 
ence, but  after  the  fifteenth  year,  there  is  a  very  remarkable  in- 
crease, $1  per  week  from  fifteen  to  sixteen,  nearly  $1.50  from 
sixteen  to  seventeen  and  over  $1  from  seventeen  to  eighteen,. 

11.  Experience  is  the  chief  factor  in  determining  the  wages 
of  boys.    Boys  with  four  years  of  experience  double  their  wages 
and  they  do  not  reach  a  level  until  about  the  eighth  or  nineth 
year  of  experience,  at  which  time  they  are  receiving  over  $14. 
a  week  and  are  over  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

12.  Boys  are  engaged  in  over  111  different  occupations.    How- 
ever, 33  of  these  occupations  include  about  70  per  cent  of  the 
workers.    The  most  popular  occupations  are  typical  blind-alleys ; 
for  example,  helpers  and  general  workers,  drivers,  errand  mes- 
senger boys,  wrappers  and  packers,  etc. 

13.  A  rough  estimate  indicates  that  from  75  per  cent  to  80 
per  cent  of  the  boys  are  engaged  in  unskilled  or  semi-skilled  pur- 
suits. 

14.  The  most  common  method  followed  by  boys  in  learning  a 
vocation  is  a  ' '  trial  and  success ' '  method.    They  try  this  and  that 
pursuit  to  see  whether  they  are  suited  to  it  or  it  is  suited  to 
them.     While  no  elaborate  system  of  vocational  schools  would 
entirely  eliminate  this  method  of  learning  vocations,  it  might 
succeed  in  reducing  and  eliminating  some  of  the  waste  resulting 
from  the  present  system. 

15.  Of  the  846  boys  studied,  628  (75  per  cent)  had  at  the  time 
of  the  investigation  a  definite  ambition.     That  is,  they  desired 
to  prepare  for  and  enter  a  particular  occupation. 

16.  Of  the  group  having  an  ambition,  35  per  cent  were  am- 
bitious along  lines  of  work  in  which  they  already  had  had  most 
of  their  vocational  experience. 

17.  In  the  case  of  about  23  per  cent  of  the  ambitious  boys 
there  was  but  a  very  slight  correlation  between  their  previous 
work  and  their  ambitions. 

18.  In  the  case  of  42  per  cent  of  those  having  an  ambition, 
there  was  absolutely  no  correlation  between  their  previous  work 
and  their  ambition. 

19.  Proportionally',  more  boys  who  are  working  along  lines 
in  which  they  desire  to  continue  are  financially  successful  than 
those  whose  ambitions  lie  outside  of  the  fields  of  their  previous 
work. 


20.  A  larger  number  of  boys  with  an  ambition  make  some  pro- 
gress toward  skill  than  do  boys  without  an  ambition.    By  pro- 
gress towards  skill  is  here  meant  advancing  toward  a  skilled 
pursuit  by  changing  occupations  or  by  advancing  in  skill  while 
remaining  in  an  occupation,  as  in  printing.    Prom  these  figures 
it  would  seem  that  ambitious  boys  are  more  successful  than  un- 
ambitious   boys,  measured  either  in  terms  of  skill  or  in  amount 
of  weekly  wages. 

21.  Fewer  than  twenty  per  cent  of  the  boys  who  had  had 
experience  in  agricultural  pursuits  desired  to  remain  in  the  same. 
Apparently  the  back-to-the-farm  movement  has  not  affected  these 
boys  to  any  great  degree. 

22.  Mining  is  not  an  occupation  for  which  boys  desire  to 
prepare.    Only  two  of  the  thirty-eight  boys  who  had  had  experi- 
ence along  this  line  desired  to  continue  in  it. 

23.  Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries  and  pursuits 
attract  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the  boys.    This  is  true  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  less  than  40  per  cent  had  had  experience  along 
these  lines.    The  boys  want  to  be  machinists,  printers,  carpenters, 
electricians,  mechanics,  plumbers,  and  engineers.    They  are  also 
greatly  interested  in  commercial  pursuits.     In  all,  119  boys  de- 
sired to  follow  such  lines.     A  very  few  are  interested  in,  pro- 
fessional services,  domestic  and  personal  service,   arid  clerical 
occupations. 


The  Extension  Division  has  issued  the  following  pamphlets,  copies  of 
which  may  be  obtained,  free  of  charge,  upon  application.  Similar  papers, 
along  the  same  and  other  lines,  will  be  published  from  time  to  time,  as 
material  is  available. 

Serial  No.  and  Date 
Preliminary  announcement  70  Dec.  1,  1913 

No.  1.     Street  lighting,  by  Professor  ARTHUR  H.  FORD        75  Apr.  25,  191* 

No.  2.     Kate  making  for  public  utilities,  by  Dean  WILLIAM  G.  RAYMOND 

76  May  2,   1914 

No.  3.     Engineering  as  a  profession,  by  Dean  WILLIAM  G.  RAYMOND 

73  Apr.  11,  1914 

No.  4.     Store  lighting,  by  Professor  ARTHUR  H.  FORD        80  May  30,  1914 

No.  5.    Economy  of  time  in  arithmetic,  by  Professor  WALTER  A.  JESSUP 

82  June  13,  1914 

No.  6.  Vocational  guidance  in  high  school,  by  Associate  Professor  ERVIN 
E.  LEWIS  85  July  4,  1914 

No.  7.  Ninth  annual  announcement  of  the  Iowa  High  School  Debating 
League,  by  Assistant  Professor  GLENN  N.  MERRY  86  Oct.,  1914 

No.  8.  Water  worlcs  statistics  of  thirty-eight  cities  of  Iowa,  with  the  meter 
rates  of  seventy  cities,  by  Assistant  Professor  JOHN  H.  DUNLAP 

87  Nov.,  1914 

No.  9.  Work,  wages,  and  schooling  of  eight  hundred  Iowa  boys  in  relation 
to  the  problems  of  vocational  guidance,  by  Associate  Professor 
ERVIN  E.  LEWIS  90  Feb.  1,  1915 


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